Weekly Photo Challenge: Gratitude

Taking time to appreciate all the blessings in my life should be a daily practice…and in many ways it is. But Thanksgiving is also a time to push that pause button and take time to express gratitude in more visible and public ways.

I am grateful for so many people…and at this time of year, particularly for my NWP colleagues who stimulate my thinking and push me out of my comfort zone. This year I was lucky enough to wake up in Atlanta, GA and experience the sun rising (3 hours earlier than at home) from the window of my hotel room. I’m still thinking about so much that was generated by sessions, conversations, and interactions at the National Writing Project Annual Meeting.

I am grateful that I live in a place where protest is a way to express your point of view, your displeasure, and a way to call others to action. I love this art piece on display at the Civil and Human Rights Museum in Atlanta made entirely of string, bringing attention to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

And later that same day, I also watched a moving mass of people chanting and marching to express their “love trumps hate” message.

I’m grateful for friends who are willing to spontaneously board a ferris wheel walking back from dinner, feeding my photography habit with beautiful views of the city punctuated with snippets of conversation that bring us closer together as we rotate high in the sky.

I’m grateful for the luxury of coffee and wandering my own city…just because we can. I know that walking brings me peace and creates space for thinking and I’m grateful for my husband who willingly walks miles and miles with me, sometimes in complete silence.

I’m grateful for access to beautiful beaches to wander and wonder at nature’s masterpieces. I love catching nuances in light, creating unexpected effects like this photo of three seagulls.

And the opportunity to get up close and personal with a great white egret as it fishes in the pools at low tide.

I’m grateful for local businesses and eateries that bring the quaintness and culture to our community. We’ll probably have to head out again on #shopsmallsaturday–not that anything could keep us away from places like Juanitas Taco Shop in Leucadia!

I’m grateful for my expanding family–even when I don’t get to spend Thanksgiving with them! I desperately missed my three baby grandsons on their first Thanksgiving (and their moms and dads too). But I am grateful for the perfect hike in the Torrey Pines State Reserve…and later dinner with my husband, parents, sister, and nephew (even though we have yet to find a restaurant that serves anything close to the yumminess of my husband’s cooking). I felt like finding this heart-shaped cactus fruit was a talisman of the love and bounty I experience. I hope sharing it brings those same feelings to you too.

Gratitude…my heart is full. Even when things feel hard, a quick flip though my photos reminds me of so much I have to be grateful for. Why not take a few minutes and either flip through your photos or head out and take a few that express some of your gratitude during this season of reflection?

You can post your photo alone or along with some words: commentary, a story, a poem…maybe even a song! I love to study the photographs that others’ take and think about how I can use a technique, an angle, or their inspiration to try something new in my own photography. (I love a great mentor text…or mentor photo, in this case!) I share my photography and writing on social media. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter using @kd0602. If you share your photos and writing on social media too, please let me know so I can follow and see what you are doing. To help our Weekly Photo community find each other, use the hashtag #gratitude for this week and include @nwpianthology in your post.

Take a break from holiday shopping (is it that time already?) or from your everyday routines and take some time to express your gratitude through photos. What are you grateful for?

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2 thoughts on “Weekly Photo Challenge: Gratitude”

Once again we were in the same place at the same time and didn’t meet face to face. One of these days we need to change that. I love that you went on the Ferris Wheel. My schedule was so full that I didn’t take the time. Your gratitude and optimism is evident in every image you take. Happy Thanksgiving!